Since China launched its Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, some politicians in the West have taken a skeptical attitude toward it, and even drummed up suspicions with their outdated "China threat" rhetoric. In the latest, and unexpected example, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that China must not link its investments in the western Balkans to political demands at a joint news conference with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Berlin on Wednesday.
Alarmist talk of such kind shows despite the close economic cooperation and frequent people-to-people exchanges between China and the outside world, prejudice against China, which stems from the stubborn persistence of the Cold War mentality, still runs high in the West.
China has long made it clear that the initiative for greater connectivity it has proposed is for the good of all. Since 2013, more than 100 countries and international organizations have responded favorably to the initiative, and Chinese companies have invested more than $50 billion in 20 countries involved in the initiative, creating 180,000 local jobs and contributing to the economic development of these countries.
Yet, political bias and prejudice against China have prevented some in the West from adopting a fair and objective attitude toward the initiative. Instead, they question China's strategic motivation, arguing the initiative is a geopolitical tool to assert regional leadership and establish a new sphere of influence.
Others resist the initiative fearing that it means the West will be the loser in the global competition. The view expressed by Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, belongs to this category. At this year's conference earlier this month, he said that a divided Europe will lose out in the face of a rising China.
Both Merkel and Ischinger should be told the practice in international relations which views relations among nations as a zero-sum game is outdated and should long ago have been abandoned.
China is dedicated to promoting lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity and building a community with a shared future for humankind.
It is high time those clinging on to the cozy familiarity of their Cold War mentality embraced the spirit of the times instead, joining hands with China in the spirit of cooperation, partnership and sharing.
